Dental cleaning and massage device



June 21, 1938. J. LANDERs DENTAL CLEANING AND MASSAGE DEVICE Filed Dec.2.2, 1936 ATTORNEYS Patented June 21, 1938 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE v1 Claim.

This invention relates to a dental cleaning and massage device and hasfor the primary object the provision of a simple and inexpensive deviceof this character which may be employed ior home use or when away fromhome and will provide an -eflicient substitute for the conventionaltooth brush, permitting a person to thoroughly cleanse the teeth with adental powder confined therein and protected until ready for use andalso when used will massage the gums and after use may be discarded, thecost of manufacture of such a device being small so that purchasing innumbers may be economically made p by the purchaser, permitting thediscarding of the device after use non-burdensome and thereby providingmaximum sanitation in the care of teeth and gums and convenience to theuser.

With these and other objects in view, this inventioh consists in certainnovel features of cono struction, combination and arrangement of partsto be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had tothe following description g5 and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1is a perspective view showing the application of a dental cleaning andmassage device to a persons finger and constructed in ac'- cordance withmy invention. Figure 2 is a plan view of the device prior to the removalof the protective cover.

Figure 3 is a plan view illustrating the device after the removal of theprotective cover.

Figure 4 is a plan view illustrating the finger engaging strap of thedevice.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 6 5 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral i indicates a backingstrip constructed from a suitable fabric such as toweling material andthe edges of said strip are bent to overlie the strip and stitchedthereto, as shown at 2, providing in one face of the backing strip arecess 3 for the reception of a dentifrice 4. .The dentifrice may be ofany well known character and is retained inthe recess by a cover 5secured to the backing strip by the stitching 2 and preferably of areadily destructible material such as paper and has formed on one end atab or tongue I to permit the user to readily grasp the protective coverfor tearing or removing the same to ex- 5 pose the dentifrice. Securedto the backing strip is a finger strap 'l adapted to extend over afinger, as shown in Figure 1, so as to retain the device in an operativeposition upon the finger,

preferably the index finger of a persons hand. 10

After the application of the device to the finger the protectivecovering is removed and the dentifrice is applied to the teeth and gumsbyA the insertion of the index finger in the mouth.v lit is to beunderstood that the device, of course, can 15 be moistened with waterprior to its insertion in the mouth and with a rubbing action upon theteeth and gums the teeth will be cleansed of foreign matter and the gumsthoroughly massaged. 'Ihe backing strip being of a toweling 20 materialwill have a very desirable massaging actionon the gums. 'I'he dvicedescribed may be manufactured at a very small cost and such devices canbe sold in different numbers so that the purchaser may purchase a supplyof such de- 25 vices and may conveniently carry them when on a trip ormay make use of such devices when at home. The device being inexpensivecan without burden on the purchaser be discarded after use, therebyincreasing the sanitary care of teeth o and gums owing to the personbeing able to afford the use of one of these devices each time the teethare cleaned and the gums massaged. While the device, as shown, issubstantially oval shaped.

it is to be understood -that it may be made in dif- 35 ferent shapes ifdesired.

Having described the invention, I claim:

A dental cleaning and massaging device comprising a backing strip havingits edges folded upon itself to dene a recess for the reception of adentifrice, means securing the edges in folded position, a destructiblecover for the dentifrice and secured to the backing strip by said means,and a finger strip secured to the backing strip by said means. 45 v JOHN

